Making of Them (Beating the Biker 3)

“I will, after you see if we can get some more information. But Rob is more the ace up our sleeve.”

“He is?”

“I hope so. He has connections I never will.”

“You hope.”

“Exactly.”

Chrissy hurriedly set to logging into the cell phone account to hunt for the bills. Unfortunately, they weren’t quite what she needed. “This isn’t going to help. What I need isn’t on the billing.”

“Call the company,” Saks said over his shoulder as he scoured the apartment again, looking for anything helpful.

Why didn’t she think of that? Her jumbled nerves seemed to be interfering with the thinking part of her brain. She was glad Saks was here to help, but was also frustrated at herself for not keeping it together.

One quick call to the phone company later, and Chrissy had a document detailing Pearson’s calls. Nothing really jumped out at her.

“Hey, babe,” Saks interrupted. “Why I didn’t think of this before? Call Jessica’s number.”

“All right,” Chrissy murmured as she pulled up Jessica’s number and hit send. It went to voicemail and she was about to give up when Saks shouted out at her.

“Again! Keep calling it!”

Over and over Chrissy called Jessica’s phone, hopeful that one time she’d suddenly pick up, when Saks’ voice jolted her back to reality.

“Found it!” He ran triumphantly from Jessica’s bedroom with the phone in question. “It was on the charger, but stuck between the mattress and the wall.”

“Wow,” Chrissy breathed, entirely deflated. “That means she left here without it, and she wouldn’t do that. That means she’s in trouble. And I can’t access her phone.”

“What’s her number? I’m calling my unimpeachable source.”

Within a half hour they had a list of Jessica’s calls since she’d arrived in London.

“Wait.” Chrissy’s finger tapped on the screen. “Here’s one that’s on both Pearson’s and Jessica’s list.”

“Call it.”

“Are you sure?” The mystery of who would pick up left her stomach entirely uneasy.

“Yes. If the police call them, and this unknown person has information, it will scare them off. But if you call them, and talk in that sweet voice of yours, then you might find something out.”

Nervously, Chrissy put the phone on speaker, dialed the number, and sucked in a breath while she waited for an answer.

“Kovel,” said a gruff voice, sending ripples of surprise down her skin.

“Hi, Alexi!” she said brightly as she forced herself to keep it together. “It’s Chrissy from the Embassy Ball, remember me?”

“Chrissy?” He took a moment to clear his throat. “Yes, Ms. Serafini, what can I do for you?”

“Well,” she said coquettishly, “it seems I don’t have any plans tonight. I was wondering if we could get a drink?”

“A drink?”

“Yes. I just got back from the States, and it seems I have some time on my hands. And I remembered this very handsome man I met a few nights ago.”

“I don’t...” Voices in the background came across the line until something muffled them. “Well, yes, Ms. Serafini. That would be lovely. Where would you like to meet?”

They agreed to a place and time. Chrissy clicked off the call, to find Saks glaring at her.